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Gilbert Gottfried

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Gilbert Gottfried
Gottfried at the Writers Guild of America East Solidarity Rally in Washington Square in 2007
Born (1955-02-28) February 28, 1955 (age 69)
Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
MediumStand-up, film, television
NationalityAmerican
Years active1980–present
GenresSatire, crude humor, blue comedy, improvisational comedy, black comedy, insult comedy
Subject(s)Religion, race relations, racism, pop culture, sex
SpouseDara Kravitz (2007–present)
Notable works and rolesSaturday Night Live
Comedy Central Roasts
Host of USA Up All Night
Mr. Peabody in Problem Child
Iago in Aladdin
Digit in Cyberchase
Aflac Duck in the Aflac commercials
Websitehttp://www.gilbertgottfried.com/

Gilbert Gottfried (born February 28, 1955) is an American actor, voice actor and stand-up comedian best known for his trademark comedic persona of speaking in a loud, grating tone of voice and squinting.[1] He has played numerous roles in film and television, perhaps most notably voicing the parrot Iago in Disney's Aladdin (1992), and co-starred in the Problem Child movies. He is also known for voicing Digit in the children's cartoon/educational math-based show Cyberchase, and the Aflac Duck until 2011.

Early life

Born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1955, Gottfried is the youngest of three children.[2][3]

Career

Early career (1980–1994)

At age fifteen, Gilbert Gottfried began doing amateur stand-up in New York City and, after a few years, became known around New York as "the comedian's comedian."[4] In 1980, Saturday Night Live was being retooled with a new staff and new comedians; the producers noticed Gottfried and hired him as a cast member. During the 1980–1981 season, Gottfried's persona in SNL sketches was very different from his later characterization: he rarely (if ever) spoke in his trademark screeching, obnoxious voice and never squinted. During his 12-episode stint, he was given very little airtime and seldom used in sketches. Gottfried recalls a low point was having to play a corpse in a sketch about a sports organist hired to play inappropriate music at a funeral. Despite this, he had one recurring character (Leo Waxman, husband to Denny Dillon's Pinky Waxman on the recurring talk show sketch, "What's It All About?") and two celebrity impersonations: David A. Stockman and controversial film director Roman Polanski.

Although not a regular, he also appeared in the short-lived 1992 TV series The Amazing Live Sea Monkeys and voiced crazed dentist "Dr. Bender" and his son Wendell on the show The Fairly OddParents and the voice of Jerry the Belly Button Elf on Ren and Stimpy. He is notably known for his voice-overs as ducks or other birds—when asked how he prepared for his role of Iago in Aladdin, he said "I did the whole DeNiro thing. I moved to South America! I lived in the trees!" He was the host of the Saturday edition of USA Up All Night. Rhonda Shear hosted the Friday version.

Voice acting, television and films (1999–2001)

Gottfried at the 1991 Emmy Awards

He also appeared as a semi-regular in the most recent version of Hollywood Squares. He is best remembered for a 1999 episode in which a single round of play took up the entire half-hour. The contestants had each won four stars/squares, leaving Gottfried as the last square available. Because either player could win upon capturing Gottfried's square, they could not win on their competitor's wrong response and had to win it themselves. The contestants alternated agreeing or disagreeing about whether Gottfried was bluffing an answer—and missed six consecutive tries. Five of those times he admonished the contestant with an increasingly incredulous "YOU FOOL!", mimicking Penn Jillette and his partner Teller. The seventh time he and the contestant agreed, and they finally won the square and the game. This segment has been featured on game show blooper programs and it is popular on YouTube.

Gottfried has provided the voice of the duck in the AFLAC commercials and Digit in the math-mystery cartoon Cyberchase on PBS Kids GO!, as well as the magical imp Mr. Mxyzptlk on Superman: The Animated Series. He also played a nasty wisecracking criminal genius named "Nick-Nack" who used toys to commit crimes on two episodes of the TV series Superboy (he also co-wrote an issue of the tie-in Superboy: The Comic Book which featured the origin of his character, Nick-Nack). Gottfried made regular appearances on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.

Recent work (2004–present)

In 2004 Comedy Central featured his stand up material for an animated series called Shorties Watchin' Shorties.[5] Gottfried was part of an online advertising campaign for Microsoft's Office XP software, showing, in a series of Flash-animated cartoons, that the Clippy office assistant would be removed. In 2006, Gottfried topped the Boston Phoenix's tongue-in-cheek list of the world's 100 Unsexiest Men. In April 2006, Gottfried performed with the University of Pennsylvania's Mask and Wig Club in their annual Intercollegiate Comedy Festival. Also in 2006, he made an appearance on the Let's Make a Deal portion of Gameshow Marathon (as a baby in a large high chair, he says "Hey Ricki, I think I need my diaper changed!"), and in the Dodge Viper in the big deal (where he tells the contestants "What were you thinking?!" because neither one picked it). He also guest-starred in The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy as Santa Claus in the one-hour Christmas Special. He voiced Rick Platypus in an episode of My Gym Partner's a Monkey entitled "That Darn Platypus".

Gottfried appeared as Peter's horse in an episode of Family Guy entitled "Boys Do Cry". He also guest-starred in Hannah Montana as Barny Bittmen. In January 2009, Gottfried worked again with David Faustino for an episode of Faustino's show Star-ving.[6] In 2011, Gottfried appeared in the episode "Lost Traveler" on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as Leo Gerber, a sarcastic computer professional working for the NYPD's Technical Assistance Response Unit, which producer Warren Leight said could become a recurring character.[7] Gottfried read a section from the hit book Fifty Shades of Grey in a June 2012 YouTube video, which was created with the aim of using Gottfried's trademark voice to make fun of the book's graphic sexual content.[8]

Controversy

9/11 joke

During his monologue at a Friars Club roast of Hugh Hefner three weeks after the September 11 attacks, Gottfried joked that he had intended to catch a plane, but couldn't get a direct flight because "they said they have to stop at the Empire State Building first." This was one of the first public examples of 9/11 humor. Audience members responded with hisses and a cry of "Too soon!". Gottfried then abandoned his prepared remarks and launched into the venerable Aristocrats joke, winning back the audience.[9] Penn Jillette and Paul Provenza used Gottfried's monologue as a segment in their 2005 film, The Aristocrats.[10]

Japanese tsunami jokes

In March 2011, Gottfried made jokes on his Twitter account in reference to the earthquake disaster in Japan. He later deleted the tweets and apologized. Despite this, Aflac, which does 75% of its business in Japan, dismissed Gottfried on March 14, 2011 and announced a casting call for his replacement as the voice of its duck mascot.[11] He was replaced by Daniel McKeague (who did an impression of Gottfried) on April 26, 2011.[12]

Filmography

Commercials

  • Aflac: Voice of the Aflac Duck (2000–2011)
  • ShoeDini (voiceover): The ShoeDini is, as he describes it in the commercial, "a shoe horn on a stick."
  • "Be Cool about Fire Safety" : He is the voice of Seymour Smoke, the talking smoke detector.
  • Voiced the talking shadow puppet mascot in a series of Subway commercials in 2000.

References

  1. ^ "Rotten Tomatoes. Review of 'Gilbert Gottfried: Dirty Jokes (2005)'". Rottentomatoes.com. 2005-12-06. Retrieved 2011-03-15.
  2. ^ "Gilbert Gottfried: Biography, Latest News & Videos".
  3. ^ "Gilbert Gottfried Biography".
  4. ^ About Gilbert
  5. ^ comedycentral.com[full citation needed]
  6. ^ Bill Jensen & Ryan Stewart (2008-03-27). "The 100 unsexiest men in the world – Ultimate Lists". ThePhoenix.com. Retrieved 2011-03-15.
  7. ^ http://www.tvguide.com/News/Gilbert-Gottfried-SVU-1039055.aspx
  8. ^ Gilbert Gottfried reads Fifty Shades of Grey
  9. ^ DiGiacomo, Frank (2005-08-07). "Why Have a Night Like This in Times Like These?". The New York Observer. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  10. ^ Ebert, Roger (2005-08-12). "The Aristocrats". Roger Ebert.com. Retrieved 2011-03-28.
  11. ^ Cina, Mark (2011-03-14). "Gilbert Gottfried Fired as Aflac Duck After Japan Tweets". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2011-03-15.
  12. ^ "The Aflac Duck's New Voice Comes From a Minnesota Sales Manager". Yahoo. retrieved 26 April 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

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